Mortal Love Can Be Magic
by Vee22
Summary: Samantha always dreamed of meeting Prince Charming when she was younger. Disillusioned by dating warlocks, she ran away from magical society and discovered that mortal love can still be magic.


**MORTAL LOVE CAN BE MAGIC.**

**A/N: **This is my second fan fiction. Samantha learns that falling in love with a mortal can still be magic.

I still have plans for Be Careful What You Witch For, so don't give up on me. I also have several other story ideas in my head, so stay tuned. Reviews and constructive criticism are much appreciated. Thank you.

**Disclaimer: **Sadly, I do not own any of the Bewitched characters.

When Samantha was a little girl, she was infatuated with the fairy tale story of Cinderella. Enchanted by the character of Prince Charming, Samantha dreamed of someday meeting her own Prince Charming, whom she imagined would sweep her off her feet. _He'll be tall, dark and handsome_, she thought dreamily, as she doodled pictures of this imaginary Prince Charming on pieces of scrap paper. _He'll be kind and loving and he'll adore me for who I am." _

As Samantha blossomed from a little girl into a beautiful, intelligent and charming young witch, Maurice was swamped with various warlock admirers, all begging him for the honour of an evening out with his daughter. To amuse himself, Maurice often set the admirers seemingly impossible tasks to perform, before he would even let them through the front door. This led to several arguments with Endora, who despised Maurice's attempts to hinder her desire to see Samantha settled down and married to a nice warlock.

Although her admirers were attractive and personable, none of them filled Samantha with the butterflies that she expected from a Prince Charming. To Endora's despair, Samantha pronounced each of her dates disastrous and vowed that she would never settle down with any of them. After one particularly horrendous evening out, she turned her unfortunate escort into a toad.

Although he had powers of his own, he could not undo Samantha's spell and was forced to remain a toad until Endora ordered Samantha to turn him back. Word spread and soon, despite Samantha's beauty and wit, no warlock was willing to court her.

"Samantha, what have you done?" Endora moaned. "Ever since you turned Cosmos into a toad, no warlock has any desire to come near you. If you apologise to him publically, perhaps we can change their minds."

Samantha shrugged, unconcerned. "Well, he was behaving like a toad, Mother, so I thought he might like to be one. I'm not sorry for what I did and I certainly won't apologise to him."

"All power to you, Sammy," her cousin Serena said, with a laugh. "It means more dates for me!"

Seeing that her daughter seemed indifferent to her single status, Endora decided to take Samantha's love life into her own hands. She excused herself, saying that she planned to meet a friend and quickly popped out. She was off to visit her friend Carlotta, who still owed her a favour from the last century.

That night, Endora returned triumphantly. "Darling, I have marvellous news," she announced. "It wasn't easy, but I've finally found a man for you. And you will just love him."

Samantha stiffened. "What are you talking about, Mother?" she asked, a frown creeping onto her pretty face.

Endora smiled. "Samantha, do you remember my friend, Carlotta? I visited her this afternoon. Her son Duke has always fancied you and considering that she still owes me a favour, I think that I can get a marriage proposal from him in the next couple of weeks."

Samantha's eyebrows shot up. "Mother! How dare you!" she exclaimed indignantly. She remembered Duke all too well – a weedy, shy warlock who stammered when he spoke to anyone and didn't even come close to her image of a Prince Charming. She also remembered Carlotta, his mother – a haughty, domineering witch, whom she would destest as a mother-in-law.

"Now, now, darling, no need to thank me," Endora said, pleased with her matchmaking. "It's almost March now and spring weddings are so lovely. Shall we have the wedding in a couple of months?"

"No!" Samantha retorted hotly. "I will not marry him. I refuse to marry him."She then broke out into a rant, outlining all the reasons why she could not and would not marry Duke.

Endora remained placidly calm throughout Samantha's tempestuous speech. Then, as if Samantha had not spoken at all, she patted Samantha on the shoulder. "Don't worry, dear. Mother knows best." She turned and walked out of the room.

As she walked away, Samantha could hear her mother muttering, "Now, should we invite your bumbling Aunt Clara to the wedding? I do hope she won't embarrass us. Enchantra and Hagatha would never let us forget it."

Samantha stared into space for a few minutes, her brain working furiously. How _could_ her mother have done such a thing? She had known that Endora was anxious to see her married, but she had never dreamed that her mother would arrange a marriage for her. And with _Duke_, of all warlocks!

"I can't do this," she said, out loud. "I need to get away." But where? She couldn't go to her cousin Serena's. That was the first place that her parents would go looking for her. She couldn't go to Cloud Nine or any of the other popular hang-outs. She could not risk being seen by friends or acquaintances, who would be obligated to inform her parents of her location. _Where can I go?_

The idea came to her in a flash. Of course. The one place that her mother would never think to look for her. Earth. Samantha twitched her nose and a suitcase appeared in her hand, packed with her belongings. Another twitch and she held a manila folder containing a passport, driver's licence and other paperwork necessary to pass for an ordinary mortal. One more twitch and she was standing on a crowded street in New York City, ready to begin her new life.

Two weeks later, Samantha was beginning to feel as though she had really become assimilated. She had cast a cloaking spell to prevent her family from finding her and she felt that she was doing an admirable job of living life as an ordinary mortal woman. She had a job. She had an apartment. She was even restraining the use of her magical powers and had been quite successful so far. Well, except for the time that she had left the stove on and hastily twitched when she had seen smoke billowing from her kettle. But she had had no choice. She could hardly explain to the landlord that she'd never used a stove by hand before and hadn't realised she needed to turn it off when the kettle boiled.

Samantha hummed happily as she walked through the stores. It was Friday and normally at this time, she would be studying potions with Serena or practising her flying with her mother. A leisurely stroll through mortal stores seemed so pleasurably different in comparison. Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted, as she bumped into something large and solid. Her blue eyes opened wide when she saw the object that she had bumped into – a man. A tall, dark, handsome man.

He looked just as startled as she did, but he grinned nevertheless. "I beg your pardon," he said, bending over to pick up the package that she had dropped.

Samantha felt her heart suddenly beat a little faster and a warm flush spread over her fair cheeks.  
"That's quite all right," she said, embarrassed. She suddenly felt like asking his name. _Don't be silly, Samantha_, she scolded herself silently. She was still unfamiliar with mortal etiquette in such situations, but she was quite sure that young women didn't ask to be introduced to men. Her feelings seemed to be confirmed, when the man nodded at her politely and walked away.

Samantha stared after him. For reasons that she could not explain, she longed to run after him and get to know him better. _But I wouldn't know what to say, anyway_, she argued to herself. Surprisingly, the usually talkative and vivacious Samantha felt tongue-tied and rather shy. She recounted their brief encounter in her head and wondered why she couldn't stop thinking about it. Caught up in her daydreams, she again failed to notice the young man until it was too late and they collided once more.

"I'm sorry!" they both exclaimed and then began to laugh. _He had a very nice laugh_, she thought. _And a nice smile too – it makes his eyes light up._ Samantha suddenly realised that he was speaking to her again. _Concentrate, Sam_, she thought._Why can't you concentrate?_

"Are you OK, miss? I hope I didn't hurt you," he was saying, concern evident in his voice. A_nd he's kind_, she thought dreamily, before realising that he was staring at her, waiting for an answer.

"I'm fine," she said lightly, hoping that her momentary pause hadn't scared him. "We do seem to be bumping into each other today, don't we?"

He smiled his charming smile again. "That certainly seems to be the case," he replied. "I don't suppose that you'd like to come have a cup of coffee with me? We won't collide again if we're walking together."

Samantha's pulse began to race excitedly at his invitation. Although her exterior appeared calm and dignified, inside, she was jumping like a schoolgirl with a teenage crush. As much as she wanted to say yes, she suddenly hesitated and thought of what her parents would say.

Going out with a mortal? They would be horrified and the entire magical community would be scandalised. Samantha had known one woman who had defied convention to marry a mortal and had been shunned and ridiculed as a result. Was she willing to associate with this mortal and risk banishment from her friends and family?

"It's just a cup of coffee," the man said, clearly sensing her hesitation. "Nothing more."

Samantha grinned. "It is just a cup of coffee, isn't it?" she said. "Let's go."

"Oh, I've forgotten my manners. I haven't even introduced myself to you yet," said the man with another friendly laugh. "I'm Darrin. What's your name?" he asked, extending his hand.

Samantha beamed, hoping that her blush wasn't too obvious, as she shook Darrin's hand. "I'm Samantha," she said, as they walked to the coffee shop together. _No big deal, Sam,_ she told herself. _Don't get too excited. It's just a cup of coffee_.

But as weeks went by and Darrin and Samantha began spending more and more time together, they both had to acknowledge that it was more than just a cup of coffee. Samantha found herself falling in love, a deep and amazing feeling that she had never felt before. Darrin was kind, caring and sweet and she loved him more than she had ever conceived possible. Best of all, he loved her too. When Darrin got down on one knee and proposed to Samantha, she promptly forgot all of the difficulties she would face by marrying a mortal and once and for all, alienating herself from her magical heritage.

"Yes, Darrin," she breathed, confident that Darrin was the Prince Charming that she had always dreamed about. "Yes, I will marry you."

As he pulled her close and kissed her, Samantha was convinced that even though Darrin was mortal, the love that they shared was nothing short of magic.


End file.
